Favorite thing: Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887) was a popular Dutch satirist of the 19th century. He was particularly known for his skewering of the middle classes in their racism and classism, and was a strong critic of Dutch imperialism in the East Indies (now Indonesia).

Dekker published his best known work, the novel "Max Havelaar," under the pseudonym Multatuli in 1860. The name is derived from Latin and either means "I have suffered much" or "I have witnessed much." I had never heard of Multatuli under my March 2008 visit to the Netherlands, but his name came up again only two weeks after my return in the context of the Indonesian novel "This Earth of Mankind" by P. A. Toer, which I was reading for my book group here in Michigan.

The Multatuli statue was created by contemporary Dutch artist Hans Bayens (b. 1924) It's located in a square overlooking the Singel Canal.